A total of 914 child mistreatment cases were reported at nurseries nationwide between April and December of 2022, including 90 deemed as abuse, a government survey that for the first time scrutinized all municipal governments showed Friday.
The survey by the Children and Families Agency, set up in April, sheds light on the serious situation surrounding the safety of children at nurseries and adds pressure on local authorities to take action to prevent incidents that could cause children physical or psychological harm.
The poll was conducted following the arrest in December of three women who used to work as teachers at a nursery school in Shizuoka Prefecture for alleged repeated instances of abuse, a high-profile incident that led to revelations of several similar cases in Japan.